Race 4 - January 28: Elite men

Vervecken takes third world title in fascinating race

Page surprises cylco-cross world with second place

About 30,000 spectators witnessed a tumultuous world championship at the "Domenico
Savio" park in Hooglede-Gits. Defending world champion Erwin Vervecken
extended his world title this afternoon. After taking third in 1994, he managed
five more podium results since then and now is on top of the world again.

"It was a very, very special race as so many things happened; to me, it
was just like a movie or a dream," Vervecken said.

With this win, the 34-year-old Belgian makes up for a troubled season where
he grabbed only one major victory at the World Cup in Hofstade. He has again
proved himself a great championship rider. "I don't like that term, but
I can understand it; I don't win a lot, but I can't help it that the favourites
often fail at the championships," Vervecken said.

"This is the most hard-won title of the three, winning it at home adds
to that of course. It was a very special atmosphere today; during the ultimate
hundred metres I couldn't hear anything like being in a disco! I didn't have
a clue where Page was," Vervecken described the hectic final and his rival
there. "He had a troubled season but he's fresh. I did 40 races and that
makes a big difference."

Big favourites Sven Nys (Bel) and Bart Wellens (Bel) were set back by pure
bad luck. While riding in the lead, the duo were brought down by a plastic block
that was touched and knocked over by the TV quad. Both continued the race, but
while Wellens fought back to reach fourth, Nys' bad luck continued; he finished
eleventh.

With many favourites out of contention for the world title, the outsiders stepped
up. At first, it was former world champion Richard Groenendaal (Ned) who took
the initiative, but he crashed out as well. Italian champion Franzoi then stormed
forward together with former US national champion Jonathan Page (USA). While
Franzoi couldn't keep the pace of the American, Vervecken pushed ahead.

In a tense final lap, it was Vervecken who entered the final straight with
a little gap. Page took the silver medal and headed for the arms of wife Cori
and young daughter Emma. The 30-year-old American, who lives in Belgium near
Oudenaarde, was delighted although he started off cynical when describing his
performance.

"I thought I was okay today," Page smiled. "This is the start
of my future today, so I'll be around for a few more years." The US rider
battled for victory, but came a little short in the end. "I hoped to win
gold, but it all came down to the last little hill where he had a good run and
I didn't."

With this result Page completes his remarkable comeback from a serious shoulder
injury which has been described to Cyclingnews in a recent
interview. "I don't know if it [the recovery and free time] helped
me to be good today but it definitely helped me to be motivated," Page
said.

Already during the race Page's mechanic was commenting on his current performance.
"Jonathan deserves a team for next season, after all the work he's done
he showed he's good enough," Frankie Van Haesebroucke said. By bringing
home the first ever US medal in the elite men's race, Page shouldn't have much
trouble finding a team now.

"The US-team grabbed three medals over here so that's great, hopefully
it continues," Page said, referring to the other silver medals from junior
Danny Summerhill and Katie Compton. US-champion Ryan Trebon was disappointed
with his 21st place as he hoped for at least a top15 result. "It's great
what Jonathan did, he did well enough for both of us," Trebon said to Cyclingnews.

Another surprise on the podium was Italian champion Enrico Franzoi. "It
was a tough year for me with little time to recover as I did the Vuelta a Espana.
The federation supported me a lot to focus on these worlds. I had to start far
behind and that makes this third place even more special," Franzoi said.

UCI-leader Sven Nys once again couldn't convert his dominance during the season
into a world title. "I fell three times, and only the last time it was
my own fault. From then on, I gave up for the win. Still you continue the race
but you wonder why it happens again with us [Nys and Wellens]. I'm happy that
I already did a great season. We were putting everybody under pressure, even
Vervecken who was a few metres down and then it happens. I realize that tomorrow
it's Monday, and next weekend we start in another race," said Nys.

His arch rival Wellens found it more difficult to deal with the loss. "Even
though I had the best legs of the season I couldn't do much more than what I
did. The jersey went to the wrong person, he shouldn't have won it even though
he's a teammate. He deserves to be on the podium but the other guys don't,"
Wellens said. He described the crash as inevitable and said how he felt afterwards.
"The quad touched that block, and I couldn't get away anymore. Afterwards
I had a lot of pain in my neck and couldn't throw my bike," Wellens explained.

During the race, a fence fell on the course under the weight of the huge crowd
almost crashing on Wellens, which when added to the crash of Wellens and Nys
with the plastic block, things weren't running that smooth today. The organizers
had placed a double fence and stewards around the course but their efforts proved
to be in vain.

Cyclingnews asked Mélanie Leveau from the UCI about the problems
with the fencing. "There were too many people around the course,"
she said. With this knowledge the organizers from next years worlds in
Treviso know what they will have work on, as they expect 80,000 people in bella
Italia!

How it unfolded

One of the crowds' heroes Bart Wellens (Bel) managed the best start, followed
by Gerben De Knegt and defending world champion Erwin Vervecken. Favourite Sven
Nys started off in tenth position. Camiel Van Den Bergh used all his energy
to get some advantage but then disappeared from the front as Gerben De Knegt
moved forward.

Things really started in the second lap when Nys, Vervecken, and Wellens gained
some ground. Then the crashes started. De Knegt started with a slip, but then
there was a major crash at the front near the finish line. Reportedly, a motorbike
knocked a ballustrade into the course in front of Wellens, who crashed. Nys
hit Wellen's downed bike and crashed, too.

Nys recovered quickly and joined Vervecken, Jonathan Page (USA), Radomir Simunek,
Jr. (Cze), Richard Groenendaal (Ned) and Christian Heule (Stevens) in the lead.
The pace dropped a bit as nobody seemed to know what was happening today. Another
Belgian Davy Commeyne (Bel) crashed hard by hitting a post; he had to abandon
the race.

Groenendaal didn't wonder about the bizarre development and attacked the front
group, quickly gathering a few seconds on Nys, Vervecken, Page, and Simunek.
The defending world champion slipped coming out of a corner, and again Nys went
down after someone else's mistake. A few moments later, the UCI-leader crashed
hard on a hidden root and went over the handlebars. Groenendaal extended his
lead after these crashes.

Groenendaal had seven seconds on Page and Enrico Franzoi (Ita) who came back
from nowhere.

Groenendaal was joined in the lead during the fourth lap by Franzoi, Page,
and Simunek. The world champion from 2000 got away again but after a crash by
Groenendaal in the fifth lap, he was caught by Page and Franzoi. A few moments
later, he dropped off the pace after switching bikes in the pit. Defending champion
Vervecken was 15 seconds down on the lead by then.

While Wellens kept moving forward through the bunch Nys was lost.

With three laps to go Vervecken, Page, and Franzoi were together in the lead,
but when Franzoi got stuck in the sand, the lead group was down to two riders:
Vervecken and Page.

With two laps to go, the two leaders had a gap of five seconds on Franzoi,
Groenendaal, and Kevin Pauwels (Bel). De Knegt and Wellens were 19 seconds down.

Page and Vervecken hit the ultimate lap with five seconds on Franzoi and seventeen
on Wellens. Vervecken slipped a bit early on this lap, but he bridged up to
the American again. Page attacked on the climb using a little gear, surprising
Vervecken but he didn't get away.

Finally, it was Vervecken who attacked the former US national champion on the
last climb. Page lost a few metres and was unable to bridge back up to the two-time
world champion. Vervecken had three seconds coming into the final straight,
and even though Page did all he could to close the gap, Vervecken grabbed his
third world title.

Page claimed the first-ever medal in the elite men's race for the US, and Italian
champion Franzoi was extremely happy with the bronze medal. Favourite Wellens
finished fourth while a disappointed Nys finished eleventh two minutes back
from winner Vervecken.